Page 9 of Corvak's Challenge

I chew as I listen, but something's not adding up. "So why me and the other women? We're not gladiators. At least I know I'm not."

He nods. "You are the prize."

I cough, choking on my jerky. "I'm sorry,what?"

"Female slaves are sometimes offered as incentives to gladiators to perform well. You are here because we are expected to fight over you to win you, and probably to create more exciting drama for our owners to watch."

My lip curls at the thought. So they're chumming the waters to get the sharks riled up, and I'm the chum? "That is really, really shitty."

"It is nothing you need to worry about, because you are mine." He picks up another pouch, sniffs it, and puts it aside.

My hackles rise. Does he mean what I think he means when he says that? And if so, what do I do about it? There's no question that Corvak has looked out for me since the moment we arrived here. He protected me and carried me when I couldn't walk. He tended to me when I was unconscious. He kept me safe. The fact that he's starting to get possessive is a little unsettling, but what other options do I have than to go along with him? I can't strike out on my own.

I decide I'm going to ignore it. He hasn't tried anything. Maybe saying that I'm "his" is just some sort of translation confusion.

Sure, that's it. Let's go with that.

I take another bite of jerky. "So…what now?"

"If you are feeling well enough, I am going to find an animal and bring it back. I am going to get a creature with the glowing blue parasite to put inside myself. Then we will both be protected. The others said that if living things here do not have the parasite, they die. You have one, and I will get myself one. Then we will head out, to a place farther away from the others."

I swallow hard, my mouth dry. All this talk of parasites is worrying me. Weneedone to survive?Everycreature here has one? I wish there was someone else I could ask, because I worry I'm not getting the full story, but there's no one. I have to trust what Corvak says.

Honestly, Corvak hasn't steered me wrong thus far. "I trust you. What do you need me to do?"

"Wait here for me to return. When I acquire the parasite, I will likely pass out, like you did. You will need to watch over me and protect me until I awaken."

I'm strangely touched that he thinks I can protect him while he sleeps. "You trust me to watch you? I thought I was just a prize."

The look Corvak gives me is quizzical. "Of course I trust you. We are in this together. Our goals are the same—we want to survive. The best way to survive is to avoid the others and to make ourselves stronger."

He makes it all sound so simple, so obvious. There's no mention of my weakness, or anything sexy. No "you are mine" chest-beating shit. This is a partnership, nothing more. I relax at that and smile at him, glad that I misunderstood. "I won't let you down."

"I know," he says, unbothered.

But I don't like that I'm not carrying my fair share of the work. Corvak has had to do most of the heavy lifting since we arrived on this planet. It's time for me to do my part.

CHAPTER

FOUR

AIDY

Corvak headsout to go hunting in the cold, and I'm left to guard the cave and pack things. There are several leather sacks and stacks of furs to go through, and I touch and sort everything. Whoever left this all here has done a ton of work. Some of the furs are hard on one side, and some are so soft on the inside that they feel like butter. There are packs of dried meats of varying kinds, and I snack as I put them aside. There's an unnervingly large pile of bones at the very back of the cave, just like in the horror movie,The Descent, but at least there are no human skulls in the mix. Small consolation.

Very small.

There's plenty of food but no water, but I have a fire and I know how to keep it going. I have a vague memory or two of camping trips in the desert, followed by random flashes of shaking out shoes before putting them on. Names and faces, I don't have. But random footwear knowledge? Horror movie visuals? Got that covered. It's irritating me because I feel I should know the basics, and I don't.

However, I do know that melted snow makes water, and that's something I can do easily. I spend a good amount of time scooping up snow in one of the stiff leather pouches and then setting it near the fire to melt.

I don't find clothing or shoes, so after I stuff two packs with everything I think we'll need and set aside a couple of spears, I turn to making clothing. There are a few crude knives fashioned from pale bone lying nearby, and I use one to slice long, thin strips from one of the biggest furs. I don't know how to make anything without a needle, thread, and scissors, so I figure the best option is to pile furs on our bodies strategically and then just bind them close with the strips. I take smaller furs, covering my foot with them and then crisscrossing the straps before tying them off in a bow atop my ankle.

I test the shoes for a few steps…and they immediately fall apart.

I'm sure there's a way to make this work, so I keep experimenting, trying to come up with a method. I'm tying the now-stretched-thin strips around my foot once more when I hear a high-pitched snarl come from outside. Grabbing a knife, I race to the entrance, my heart pounding in terror.

I pull aside the partition and see Corvak approaching, arms outstretched as he holds a writhing, squirming creature about the size of a beaver. It reminds me of one, with its big yellow teeth, but there's no tail and its eyes glow eerily blue. "Stay back," Corvak calls, even as the creature twists in his grip again.

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